Nearing a month since it’s debut for the fall semester, the Marketplace at Bartels has acquired some mixed reviews on it’s new layout and dining options.

Various stations are available to students, including the vegetarian/vegan station, the allergy-free station, Tex-Mex, and the Chef’s choice stations. Three 0f these stations are off to the sides of the dining area to decrease the traffic flow within the serving areas, which was a common complaint from the prior academic year. Not all students were fans of this new lay-out.

“Cosmetically, it looks great and it cuts down the lines that built up in the cafeteria, so I like it,” said a student at the University, Tyler Lafean, “but I don’t like how they made it so silverware is now spread across the entire cafeteria and you can’t get plastic silverware anymore. It’s so frustrating when I can’t find a fork during peak hours.”

Many students however, now enjoy the aesthetic layout of theMarketplace, discussing how it dramatically improved the issues of traffic flow and gave the dining and serving areas an open concept.

“I think the new renovations are nice. The marketplace needed an update, and I think the new design is very open,” said student Kiana Quinonez.

Another frequently debated topic is the new menu options being offered. The Marketplace is said to now offer a larger variety of food options for students in response to a survey that indicated many were looking for alternative choices. However, many students passionately explained that they feel much hasn’t changed and they see very little improvement in terms of food.

“Yes, there is a larger variety of options, but I think the dining options don’t feel too different from prior years. Everything is still very ‘bleh’ and for the most part, I’ll take a couple bites, then decide I don’t want to eat it, and I’ll leave hungry and unsatisfied,” said Lafean.

Many students feel they were not truly heard and that the new stations are simply hiding the elimination of some old and cherished items. A frequent opinion was that the vegan station has greatly decreased in its available options, as well as its quality, and that often times chicken patties and nuggets are nowhere to be found.

“I actually feel there are less options than last year in some ways. I think they took away a lot of options that people liked,” said Zachary Zimiroski, a student.

While many students are not feeling the glamor of the new renovations, there are still a large number of students that praise the options being offered this year.

“I feel like there are definitely more options, and it does make Bartels more appealing,” said Quinonez.

Another change this academic year, is the continuous hours now offered. The Marketplace is now open 7am-8pm Monday- Friday and until 8pm on the weekends. Many students praise this change, as it better fits their schedules.

“I really enjoy the hours Bartels has now. It makes it more convenient for students to get food when their schedule allows,” said Zimiroski.